Re: At what point does software become an application?

[Chuck <writer -at- BEST -dot- COM>]

Does this manager have hair that makes 2 points above his/her head?
Because, quite frankly, that's the level of this argument.

Put simply: why on earth would you ever want to use 2 extra words when
they add nothing to the discourse--especially when the word "software"
is essentially redundant? I mean, the whole manual is describing the use
of software, right?

To me, people who think that issues such as this are more important than
making sure the software itself is usable create quite unpleasant
working environments.

I had a manager once who was a fabulous editor, and one of her strengths
was to be able to take large documents and make them internally
consistent throughout (I even made her a little fun "award" certificate
proclaiming her "Consistency Goddess," which she proudly displayed on
her computer). I think she would cringe in horror at the quite unneeded
inconsistency.

John Posada wrote:
>
> OK, kiddies...thinking caps on.
>
> I have an application. We'll call it "Bill".
>
> Before Bill can be run, it has to be installed. (duh)
>
> I have a manager taking the following approach.
>
> Before Bill is installed, it is "the Bill software"
> After Bill is installed, it is just plain Bill.
>
> In practice, it goes something like this (samples are
> out of context):
>
> During installation:
>
> "Specify the directory where you would like to install
> the Bill software. The default directory is C:\PROGRAM
> FILES\BILL."
>
> After Installation:
>
> "Bill gives you the ability to name a location by a
> descriptive term. You are limited to 50 characters."
>
> What think yee? I almost agree with him, but then I
> like whipped cream placed...well, never mind where I
> like whipped cream, it's off topic. ;-)
> ===
> John Posada
> Western Union International
> (w) jposada -at- westernunion -dot- com
> (p) john -at- tdandw -dot- com
> _________________________________________________________
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> From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000==

--
"[Programmers] cannot successfully be asked to design for users
because...inevitably, they will make judgments based on the
difficult of coding and not on the user's real needs."
        - Alan Cooper
        "About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design"

Chuck Martin
writer"at"best.com    www.writeforyou.com


 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=